Hermione sighed as she entered the Great Hall, looking around and suppressing a grin. She was pleased with the changes this year and couldn't keep from smiling at everyone. She had returned for her job as transfiguration teacher, but this year she would be the head of Gryffindor house. That was a daunting but exciting idea and she anticipated the beginning of school, only a week away. Being a head of house would add heavily to her duties and give her more work and responsibility, but she looked forward to the challenge.

Some of the teachers of her student years had been replaced this year. Neville had taken over the Herbology teaching from Pomona Sprout, who would make monthly check-ups at the school to see how he was doing with his job. Minerva was still headmistress, Sybill was still teaching divination, and Hagrid had given up his job teaching care of magical creatures in order to spend more time with Grawp and Buckbeak. Hermione suspected that the half-giant had some new pet he needed to care for but as of yet she had found no evidence to prove her suspicions true. Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank had taken over the care of magical creatures class in Hagrid's absence.

Slughorn had retired again, leaving the position of defense against the dark arts teacher empty. He had announced his retirement at the end of the school year and left any hopeful replacements a summer to think over their decision. Hermione had been pleasantly surprised only a few weeks before she and Severus left for Hogwarts when an owl had arrived from McGonagall, bearing the news that Draco had asked for the job teaching defense against the dark arts. The headmistress had given him the position, remembering his excellent work when he took over the year before, and Hermione smiled in the direction of the pale, blond young man across the hall. He smirked, nodding in her direction once, but she knew he was still the changed man she had come to respect and even call friend over the past school year.

While Neville and Draco would now be at the school full time and working as her colleagues, there was a new empty place that had opened in her life at Hogwarts because Ginny was no longer a student there. The only Weasley daughter had first wanted to pursue a career working as a healer at Saint Mungo's or somewhere like the hospital but her plans had changed when she received several owls, each from a different professional Quidditch team. They all wanted her to join them as a Seeker or come and try out so that she could be a seeker in the years to come. She had accepted their requests to try out, letting them know that they had some competition and she was still undecided as to which team she would choose.

Harry and Ron were dealing with anything they were needed for at the Ministry, so there was no time for them to visit Hogwarts, and Hermione doubted Ron would come around whether he had time or not. Aberforth had accepted Minerva's request and would come to the school monthly to teach the students Latin to further their understanding of spells and incantations. He was in Hogsmeade at the moment but would be at the school on the first of September to welcome the students along with the rest of the staff.

Hermione took her seat, smiling once more because while the seating arrangements had changed slightly since the year before, she would still be seated between Severus and Neville. Draco would be on Severus' other side and Hermione remembered with a laugh how Neville had politely requested that he be given a seat away from the young ex Death Eater. Neville was still getting used to the idea of Hermione being friends with one and the wife of another ex Death Eater. He couldn't quite understand the good that Hermione saw in Draco and in Severus, but he was trying his best and had even managed to greet Severus upon the Snapes' return to the school. Hermione felt sorry for him; he'd never actually gotten over his fear of his old potions professor.

As the other staff members came to their seats Hermione wondered if a boggart would, in Neville's presence, turn once again into Severus. She found the idea amusing and remembered the sight of Severus dressed in the clothes of Neville's Gram, an ancient hat with an ugly stuffed vulture crowning his head. The image of Severus dressed like an old woman had never left her, and she stifled a laugh as her husband took his seat beside her. He glanced her way, raising an eyebrow, but she only smirked and turned to talk to Neville, who had just sat down.

She had a strange feeling of nostalgia when walking the halls of the school, especially the dungeon, before the students had arrived. And because she and Severus now shared his room in the teachers' quarters, all of the memories of her weeks spent caring for him and nursing him back to health were clear and constant in her mind. He noticed how she often had a faraway look in her eyes, and whenever she entered their rooms she would gaze around and seem to be reliving some experience she'd had there.

One night their conversation turned to when he had been close to death and she had cared for him. Severus seemed uncomfortable with the subject, as he was still irked by the idea of having to rely on anyone for anything, even if that person was his wife. He found a way to make her more uncomfortable, though, and smirked during a pause in their talking.

She frowned up at him from the edge of the bed, where she was seated. "What is it?"

He continued smirking for another moment, leaving her to silently guess at what he was thinking and why he was looking so smug.

"Well?" she asked again.

"Do you remember what I told you when I was in your rooms that first time, the day that I confessed my love?" he asked, raising his eyebrows and waiting to see whether she would catch on to what he was speaking of.

Hermione frowned. "We talked about quite a few things," she said, biting her lip as she stared at the space past Severus' shoulder and thought back. What could he be talking about? And then she remembered one of the things he had told her, but not gone into detail about because they had been distracted and eventually kissed each other rather than talking. "You said you didn't sleep while I was awake or watching you," she said, watching his face and wondering if she was right.

He inclined his head slightly. "Indeed."

Hermione blinked a few times, still biting her lip. Then she frowned, but soon enough her face cleared, and then she looked alarmed and her cheeks flushed pink. "That night I . . ." she trailed off when she saw his devious smile.

"Shared every emotion you were feeling and every detail about your life, especially from that day?" Severus prodded.

Hermione chewed her lip absently. "Hmm," was all she hummed in response.

"The day you ended your relationship with Weasley," he said, looking triumphant because he had found something she was mildly embarrassed about or uncomfortable with. Though he would never admit it entirely to himself, Severus had to have the upper hand. In an argument, in a regular conversation, anything; he simply had to be at the advantage or in a better position than the other person or people, who he subconsciously thought of as opponents.

Hermione nodded. "Did it bother you much, me spilling my heart out like that?"

He chuckled and raised his eyebrows momentarily. "It was an experience like nothing else I'd ever been through," he said.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm serious. I mean, I know you didn't feel anything for me then . . . except perhaps pure hatred and loathing . . . but did you care at all that Ron and I were over and I was going through such painful emotional turmoil?"

He smirked, seeming amused by her question. "I wasn't uncaring about you being hurt as you were, but I was relatively unconcerned. However, I felt-" he stopped abruptly, as if no longer able to speak.

She raised her eyebrows. "You felt?"

He had averted his dark eyes, but now they were drawn back to her inquiring, light ones. They gazed at one another for a few moments, her pleading with him to go on and finish what he had been saying and him keeping a firm and resounding NO in his own eyes. At last she sighed and looked away, biting her lip. She was obviously annoyed with him for keeping something from her, but he found the look on her face more attractive and enticing than anything. Her lips were pursed in a slight pout and she had narrowed her eyes. In fact, she was glaring rather harshly at the shelf of books lining the wall.

He sighed, and she turned back to look at him, knowing he was about to give in. "I felt . . . something," he said finally.

"Something," she repeated, sounding a bit irritated. "That's it?"

He chuckled dryly. "In all truth I would give you more, but I don't know myself what I felt for you then."

He leaned back in his chair, watching her face carefully and keeping his impassive. He would not give away the fact that he knew some of what he had felt for her. No, she must never know that he had begun to feel for her so early on, even if he himself had not recognized what he was feeling or acknowledged it. He had definitely not accepted it. Not then.

Now he let his gaze drift over her and the smallest of smiles tugged at the corners of his lips. It was getting later in the day and she had bathed already, and was now free of makeup. Her still-damp hair hung about her shoulders in messy, unkempt honey-colored curls, and she looked pale in the dim light of the room. He couldn't help but be reminded of how much she looked the way she had during her many weeks of caring for him while he was recovering from the Dark Mark and his near-death experience.

That was when he had first felt something for her. Perhaps there hadn't really been any emotion at first, just a genuine, simple attraction when one morning, after waking up to see her sitting beside him, waiting patiently for him, he began to notice how beautiful she was. The days she had cared for him she had worn no makeup, her hair had been tied back in a messy bun, and she had hardly cared how wrinkled or creased her clothes were. And after a while of staying constantly at his side she had been pale and weak, unhealthy because of her lack of movement and her lack of hope. Even then, looking tired and sickly and as if she might collapse at any moment, he had found her to be beautiful. He knew now that he had truly seen her beauty shining from the inside then, more than her physical appearance. Her eyes had held a kindness, a patience, a compassion that no other eyes had displayed while looking into his own. Even Lily had never looked at him in such a way.

He had come to love her eyes and her heart before he loved the rest of her. He knew that now. But then, then he hadn't dared even acknowledge that he found her in the least bit attractive. He had gone on the defensive after that, unable to understand how she could have worked her way past the hard, carefully built boundaries that protected his heart and his affections. He had been furious with her for daring to breach his secure walls, his armor.

But now the fury and the hatred were gone, replaced by confusion and wonder. Hermione would never truly understand how completely awed and perplexed he was by her love for him. No matter how many times she told him why she loved him, or how she could, he would never come to fathom her love or its source. He would never understand her love for him just as she would never understand the confusion her love caused him. Every time he saw his reflection he scowled at himself, smirked, even made faces just to see the cruel, hard exterior of a mean man. It mystified him, how she could look at that face and love it.

And he had never seen himself as anything but ugly. He had the most complex sort of character in that he had a large ego and an even larger pride, but after years of being treated as if he was filthy, he had begun to believe it. While he was proud and thought of himself as better than others, he had also come to hate himself. He hated his appearance, his personality, everything. His hate for himself was one of the reasons he failed to understand how anyone could actually love him. But he had learned to accept Hermione's love, to embrace it, rather than to puzzle over it and let it waste away. And somehow he was capable of returning her love in full, though he would never believe that he could give her anything that could compare in the least to what she had given him.

Hermione watched his eyes. He was careful, and after years of working as a double agent, a spy, pretending to be the Dark Lord's servant and eventually becoming his most trusted ally, she could see why he had perfected the art of keeping his emotions and his expression as two very different things. His face was at the moment calm, blank, impassive. But she knew that inside he was thinking, thinking hard over things. His eyes were usually cold when he was hiding something, though they were rarely black and cold when he was looking at her. However, now they were cold once more, and she knew that he was hiding something. She frowned at him, but he was lost in thought and failed to notice, so she stopped frowning and allowed her face to clear. Whatever he was keeping from her, it didn't seem important enough for her to badger him over, so she kept quiet and pretended not to know. She simply let it go and changed the subject, bringing up the coming classes.

Severus knew just how excited she was about the first day of school, and just the next year of it overall, so he let her talk. And talk she did. She went on and on about classes, planning, teaching techniques, and everything that had to do with school. She scowled at him—though she was still smiling with her eyes—and told him firmly that he needed to be kinder to his students, particularly the Gryffindors.

He only snorted.

She rolled her eyes and turned away from him, crawling into bed. It was getting late and she wanted to rise early to go over her class schedule for the thousandth time, just to be sure she hadn't missed anything or made any mistakes in her planning. Severus turned out the lights with a flick of his wand and slid under the blankets beside her. He curled an arm around her and she nestled comfortably against him and they fell asleep. Severus drifted off before his wife, who was doing figures and counting the number of classes she would have each week, in her head.

The next few days went by quickly and it seemed that suddenly the first of September was upon them. The students arrived in the late afternoon and Hermione took great pleasure in being the teacher who conducted the sorting ceremony for the first years. She was sure to smile encouragingly at all of the new students, who were shifting on their feet and looking around, obviously terrified. She congratulated each of them and always winked at the Gryffindors, who would grin shyly back and make their way hesitantly to their new table.

That night Severus just stood back and kept out of the way as she rushed around their rooms, gathering plans and schedules and panicking because she was sure she had forgotten something. There were also the papers and forms for the students in her house; she had to keep track of her students and make sure she knew which ones had permission from their parents to go to Hogsmeade, among other things.

The first day of classes went rather smoothly, though, and in spite of Hermione's worry that she had forgotten something, there seemed to be nothing she hadn't thought to plan for. At the end of the day she sat back in her chair, putting away several rolls of parchment and using her wand to clean the classroom. She sighed, smiling; as the year before, she had allowed the students a first day free of Transfiguration homework. She knew none of the other teachers would be so kind and while she wasn't actually working to win her students' hearts in such a way, she knew that they would appreciate her letting them off easy.

She knew how excited Neville was about the school year starting, almost as excited as she was. So she found him in the Great Hall before dinner and they talked about classes and the coming year and anything else that came to mind. He had been just as nervous—if not more—as she had about the first class and forgetting something, but he said that he had enjoyed his first day teaching as the official Herbology teacher. Hermione mentioned that she had heard some of her students talking about Herbology as they entered her class, assuring him that she had heard nothing but good things. Professor Longbottom was going to be the students' favorite among all but the Slytherins, she was sure. He might even take her place in their hearts. But Hermione didn't mind. She had never seen Neville looking so euphoric before.

There was a surprise visit from Harry and Ginny only two weeks later, and they stayed up late, sitting in the teachers' lounge and talking of their adventures together. The couple stayed in Hogsmeade and Ginny left the next morning to go to London and discuss her future as a seeker with several different professional quidditch team captains. Harry stayed another day, and he waited for Hermione to finish her classes. They walked together along the outside of the lake, talking of old times and reminiscing about their adventures together hunting Horcruxes. They laughed over the many memories of stupid mistakes they had made and shook their heads at how some of their carefully made plans had turned into battles or duels or some situation that involved all hell breaking loose.

There came a point in the conversation when Harry mentioned that he was planning on taking any free time he had to travel with Ginny and see her playing quidditch. He seemed a bit embarrassed that he would, as a result, have little time to spend visiting Hermione. But Hermione wasn't bothered at all. She could see that Harry and Ginny were falling for each other, and that they were already very serious. She didn't doubt that they would be married someday. She knew how important it was to be with the one you loved, and she could tell that Harry and Ginny did love each other.

The conversation then turned to Teddy Lupin and his life with the Weasleys. Hermione remembered how the last time she'd held the baby she had pictured herself with her own child. She was brought back from the memory, though, when Harry asked if she had visited her parents recently.

"Oh, yes," she said, nodding and smiling. "Severus and I went to see them several times over the summer and I visited them one last time before school started, only two days ago. They're always happy to see us."

She laughed and Harry shot her an inquisitive look.

She smiled at the ground. "They really seem to like Severus. I find it funny, how their faces light up and they smile when they see him walking towards them. He always gets uncomfortable and looks anywhere but back at them and he slows down. I don't think he knows how to react, or just what to make of their affections for him."

Harry laughed. "Snape—I mean Severus—uncomfortable and confused . . . I'd like to see that," he said, still laughing.

Hermione nodded. "It's completely unlike anything we ever saw of him when we were younger."

By then they had walked around the lake and were strolling back towards the castle. They were passing the tree that they had sat under with Ron so often in their student years when Harry asked suddenly, "How do the students address you and Severus?"

Hermione turned and looked at him curiously. She frowned, but she simply didn't understand. "What do you mean?"

"You know," he said, chuckling. "It was 'Professor Snape' and 'Professor Granger' last year. What do they call you now? Or do they just say 'Professor Snape' for both of you?"

Hermione laughed. "Oh." She blushed then. "Well, most of the time the students just say 'Professor Snape' for both of us and they can easily tell which one they're talking about because of the, ah . . . tone of voice . . . they use, and how they talk, when they say the name."

Harry grinned. "Or I'll bet they call Severus 'Snape' just like we used to when we were students, eh?"

Hermione smiled. "I suppose they probably do."

"And you're addressed as 'Professor Snape,'" he said, still grinning. "Most likely because they respect you and love you more than him."

Hermione shook her head, smiling. "Probably. And if he'd just change the way he treats the students and how he teaches, he might not be referred to so spitefully."

Harry laughed and she joined him.

They walked into the entrance hall and Harry, as an adult guest, took his seat at the staff table. The younger students all pointed at him or waved and smiled. None of them could stop staring at his lightning scar. He smiled and waved back, always grinning at the students and ever-winking when he saw them looking his way. They absolutely loved him. Hermione smiled when she saw how he took the time after dinner to stop and chat with the students. They seemed awed and thrilled to be talking to 'The Chosen One' and rushed to tell their friends who had missed out on the excitement.

After the students had all left the hall Harry turned to Hermione. "I'll be getting back to the Burrow then," he said quietly.

She nodded and hugged him tight. "Tell the family I said hello," she said. After a short moment of biting her lip she added quietly, "And give Ron my best."

Harry nodded. "I'll do that."

She watched him leave the Great Hall and turned when Severus strode towards her. He stopped beside her and raised his eyebrows, smirking. She expected him to make some remark about how Harry had stolen her away during her free time for two days now, but he remained silent, watchful.

Hermione knew that things were sort of different with her friends now that she was married, and because she was married to Severus. But their friendships and strong bonds with each other would never fade away. There was a love shared between them that would last forever. She knew that things between her and Harry would never really change. And she and Ginny were very close now as well. It was saddening for her, thinking about how things with Ron had already changed too much, and how the two of them might never piece their friendship back together again.

She wondered if he regretted that they weren't close friends anymore as much as she did. More than anything, she was curious, did he often think back to the day they had fought and she had ended things? Did he look back on that day and their row with longing, wishing he could go back and change things? Or had he accepted that she was no longer his and that his chance to be with her was gone? Had he come to see her in a bad light and so begun to treat her accordingly? Hermione wasn't sure what was going through his head, especially after his behavior toward her while she had been at the Burrow over the summer.

Severus saw that she was thinking, recognizing the calm but calculative expression on her face. He saw several different emotions pass over her features, and then her mind had cleared and she was looking at him again. He offered her his arm and they left the Great Hall together. They passed Neville on their way, and he and Hermione exchanged smiles. He had spent some time with Harry and Ginny as well, though mostly Harry, during their visit. She wondered if he had grown as close to Ron while working as an auror as he had to Harry and decided she would ask him when she got the chance.

They passed Draco in the dungeon and he and Severus nodded to one another while Hermione simply sent an amiable smile his way. There was a very deep mutual respect between them; Severus felt indebted to Draco not only for saving his life, but more so for saving Hermione's. Hermione felt grateful to him because he had saved them, and because she had come to call him a friend. And Draco was grateful towards Hermione for choosing to use phoenix tears to heal him, just as he was grateful to Severus for trying to help him during his more troubled years as a student, when he was being forced to do the Dark Lord's bidding.

Hermione smiled when they entered their rooms and Crookshanks trotted up to her. She scooped him up in her arms and sat down in the study, stroking his head and staring into the fire. She pretended not to notice Severus' sour look directed towards the cat. He hadn't truly complained about bringing Crookshanks to the school, but didn't exactly harbor any affection for the animal either. To him pets were more of a nuisance than something to be cherished. Crookshanks seemed to reciprocate Severus' feelings, and the two usually kept their distance from one another.

Severus went to the bedroom to change out of his robes and Hermione whispered to the cat, eventually deciding to let him play. She muttered the proper incantation and a silver, wispy doe burst from her wand tip and stood near the couch, watching the cat intently. The two frolicked around the room, the doe soundless and silent, Crookshanks padding along with her.

Severus looked in on the study and watched the patronus and the cat as they moved around the room. Both were graceful and yet still almost childishly playful. He had never quite understood why Hermione cast a patronus for the sole purpose of a plaything for her cat, but he did know that she enjoyed watching the two of them. And while she had never admitted it, he had often seen the look of pure pleasure and joy on her face every time her patronus burst from her wand not as an otter, but as a doe.

"Hermione," he said after a moment.

She turned to look at him and stood up, walking to him. "Yes?"

He was momentarily captivated by the racing animals behind her, but then the cat leapt onto the couch and curled up, obviously done playing. The doe stopped, looking at her companion for a moment before she faded into nothingness.

He looked back to his wife's face but failed to remember what had been on his mind. He shook his head and didn't say anything, but she understood.

Later, in the dark, he whispered, "Goodnight," in her ear.

She frowned into the darkness and mumbled back an unwilling, "Goodnight," in return.

While it had been quite some time now since the word had brought about their imminent separation, she was still not entirely fond of saying it. Severus continuously used it, however, more to irritate her than anything. She was slowly coming around to saying it every night again as a result of his constant prodding.

That night she managed to fall asleep thinking about Harry and Ron and the many great memories they had made together, rather than calculating classes or making schedules in her head. The adventures she'd been on with Harry and Ron had been wonderful, utterly terrifying and extremely dangerous at times, yes, but wonderful all the same. And yet she couldn't be happier with the way her life seemed to be going. There was no place she would rather be than there, safely held in Severus' arms and at the very school where everything had begun all those years before.

All right, we are coming towards the ending of the story! (We're not quite there just yet, though, so don't panic!) If you enjoyed or disliked this chapter then shoot me a review and tell me what you think! Thanks again to all of you for reading and a massive THANK YOU to all of you who have reviewed. It helps me improve my writing and story so much! Love you all! ~Taelr